Letters from William Rawson Leach to his family, 1918 - Part 7

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before Xmas from the comforts fund

& they had a note in from a girl at

Ballarat I wrote & thanked her & I

got word from her the other night

to say she was sending me another

pair. We soldiers get well looked

after dont we? We are having sports

in a couple of days & hope to have

an afternoons enjoyment & there

are to be one or two horse races that

pleases the boys more than any

thing else to see their own battery

horses racing. Now I will have to

close but am still in good spirits

& hope to be back to my old form

again in a few days. love to

all at home & selves.

Your aff son

Rawson

France

May 9th 18

I have just received your

parcel which you

sent on Feb 13th [cont?]

my cakes Ginger Eucalyptus

cigars sugar

etc Thanks very much

have just had a

real good tuck in

my mate & I. The

cake was lovely &

made me think

I was home again

having the rest of

it for supper tonight.

Also received letter from

Alice & Edo tell them

will reply later on

next week we are

going into action again

tomorrow to strafe

Fritz again. Am in

good spirits in fact

all the boys are. It 

will be twelve months

xxxx Saturday since

I left Australia hope

to be home by this time

next year Goodbye

with love & many

Thanks

Your aff son

Rawson

France

May 20th 18

Dear Mother & Father

Since writing you last

we have pulled right out of the

line & are having a spell We are

camped on the edge of a river

about a couple of miles just out

of a French city. We are having

a very good time in fact the

best I have had since I came

to France. The weather is xxxxxx

lovely & one would think that

we were back in Australia

again. The last few days have been

very hot & I am quite sunburnt

& brown makes one think of

the days at Manly. The country

that we have seen lately is

something beautiful well I have

never seen anything like it

the pretty little villages all the

way down along the river. You

should have seen some of the

homes that were evacuated during

the offensive of Fritz. They were

just mansions & the furniture

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& all the household utensils etc

were found just as they were

left. The people getting away

as best they could. You have

no idea of what the French people

have been going through. I have

seen quite enough the little

time that I have been here.

We are having a sports meeting

here on Sunday & it is

to be a great day for us if the

preparations they are making are

any criterion. Horse Racing is to be

amongst the chief events. It will seem

funny to you to think that all

this goes on of a Sunday but every

day of the week is the same

over here there are no such

things as week ends. I have been

expecting letters from you the

last few days as some of the boys

have letters from Australia dated

April 2nd so I should get another

batch any day now. I received

Sallies parcel which she sent

on Feb 13th everything was OK

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& much appreciated. I see

by the papers that they have

been getting more aire raids over

London. You have something to

be thankful for that they dont

visit Australia. You should see the

wreckage & ruin here in the towns

of France & he comes over regularly

on his visits not only xxxxx again

but every night that is favourable 

to flying [?] we have the consolation

now that our planes are doing

likewise & giving him tit for tat.

I got one of the champions which

you sent me the night before

last. What kind of a wonder are

you having over there. We have

got about another five months

of good fighting, weather ahead

of us more a less hope that the

will complete the jobs we will

all be able to spend next winter

with  you Xmas would be better

amongst the fruit & stawberries

etc. xxx

May 25th

Since I commenced this a

few more days have

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lapsed I got interrupted just

as I was writing it & we have had

such a good time the last few

days that we have had little

time to write. It is the best

spell we have ever had

since coming to France. Our

sports are tomorrow & all

are looking forward to a

good time. When you write

me next time let me know 

how much money you

have drawn from the Military

Authorities. You should have

drawn £54- 15 0 up to May

11th. I am sending you some

P.cards later on of place I have

been to as soon as I get them

censored. It is Saturday evening

just 6 oclock & I wonder what

you are all doing at home

perhaps round a big fire

I have had some real

good feeds since we have

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been down here Steak & eggs, potatoes

etc. Tomorrow night four of us have

ordered a dinner which is to

cost us 20 francs each which 

in English money is the equivelent

of 14/ 6 it runs into a five or six

course dinner we had one the

other night & it was Tres.Bon

to use a little of my French. I

am getting quite a French

Linguist although it gets one

in a tangle at times.I wish

I could speak the language.

I would have had a good hole

made in my £10 cheque which

I got from England a month

or two ago had I been able

to cash it but I couldnt get

it cashed here so had to send

it back again & am getting

them to send me two £5 notes.

I hope it gets back to me before

we leave this place. Now

mother & father I will have to close

so good bye with love to

all at home

Your aff son

Rawson

France 

June 6th 18

 

Dear Mother & Father,

I received your two welcome

letters dated March 24th & 31st last week &

you mention having got two letters from

me one dated Dec.31st & the other 20th Jan.

The former one giving you the details

of the Xmas dinner. I think the last

letter I wrote you was the day before

our race meeting that our division

had.Well we had a great day & I

thoroughly enjoyed myself some of

our fellows took on bookmaking & dolled

themselves up in all the gaudy clothes

they could get. one fellow was a typical

bookmaker he had a cheque suit on

also a soft cheque hat & high collar

he could hardly see over. He was a character.

Another chap (his name was Dawson a son of

Dawson of Stewart & Dawson the jewellers) had a

frock coat & high hat. The meeting consisted

of eight races all the horses belonging to

the different batteries  of the division.

The YMCA had a tent on the ground

where you could get tea & biscuits. It

was the best day, outing I have had

since I came to France. It will seem

funny to you to think that this all

happened on a Sunday but all days

are the same in a war zone you dont

stop fighting on a Sunday in fact

it is Fritz's favorite day if he wants 

to give your battery a bit of hurry

up. The chaplains realise the conditions

of things, over here & they join in the

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what ever is doing. The chaplains here

are fine fellows & a few months among 

the boys here makes a wonderful difference

to them they love that whining tendency

which a person has the inclination to fall

into. They use the slang phrazes the same

as the men join in & have a game of

cards with them & share their issues

of Rum with them. Their not like the

lot of old women who in Sydney the

other I saw if in the Bulletin formed

a deputation to the Military Authorities

to try & get them to stop issuing xxxxx

to the troops. I would like to see those old

fowls over here in the wet & cold & never

a dry chance for a week or ten days &

see how they would welcome a stimulant

I have seen men absolutely done & give them

a pep of Rum it puts new life into

them. I'll guarantee it has saved hundreds

of lives. These are the sort of things that

annoy the boys to think that they are

over here fighting for a few things )that's

all you can call them) who act in such

a way as to deprive the boys of a boon &

goodness only knows they dont get too many

livaries. All one can put it down to is their

complete ignorance of the conditions.

I haven't received fathers letters which he

wrote the same time as you did & posted

it to the battery. Still continue to send

my letters to Uncle Fred as I get them

quicker that way. It is alright sending

my parcels & papers to my battery address

as they save Uncle Fred a lot of bother

& I get them all in good time one doesn't